Final push for votes in NY Gubernatorial race

Final push for votes in NY Gubernatorial race

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and challengers Marc Molinaro and Howie Hawkins were in Western New York to rally their supporters Saturday. (WHAM photo)

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins said he's the right pick to combat poverty in the state.

“What I want to do is restore taxation on the rich, have the state pay for its own funded mandates, and restore the revenue sharing they used to provide, so we can cut local property taxes and provide better services that are local,” said Hawkins.

*****

By Antoinette DelBel

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) – Gov. Andrew Cuomo and challengers Marc Molinaro and Howie Hawkins were in Western New York to rally their supporters Saturday.

Molinaro, a Republican, has been crisscrossing the state focusing mostly on upstate.

“On Nov. 6, we are going to take back this government,” he said Saturday.

This weekend, Molinaro was in Rochester to get out the vote with just three days until Election Day.

“After eight years with one million people having left, with continued unemployment, continued lack of jobs and high taxes, New York State is not competitive,” said Molinaro. “When I'm governor, we’ll be competitive again. We'll be affordable again, and we'll have a government you can trust again.”

The underdog is vowing to cut property taxes by 30 percent over the next five years.

“What this governor has done is shifted cost to local property tax payers,” Molinaro said. “Over the course of eight years, we now have the highest burden of property taxes of any people in America.”

Gov. Cuomo, however, is singing a different tune. The democrat looking to win a third term made a stop in Buffalo Saturday. He echoed a similar political stump in Rochester earlier this week.

“We've cut taxes in the State of New York for every tax payer,” Cuomo said. “Middle class tax rate is now down to the lowest rate since 1947. Corporate tax rate is down to the lowest rate since 1968.”

Cuomo highlighted his accomplishments while in office, touting raising minimum wage, passing paid family leave and the SAFE Act.

“When we started, unemployment was 7.7 percent,” he said. “Today, unemployment is 3.6 percent. That ,my friends, is progress.”

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins said he's the right pick to combat poverty in the state.

“What I want to do is restore taxation on the rich, have the state pay for its own funded mandates, and restore the revenue sharing they used to provide, so we can cut local property taxes and provide better services that are local,” said Hawkins.